There is a steering device of a telescopic type which adjusts a telescopic position of a steering wheel by fitting together an outer column and an inner column slidably in an axial direction. Further, there is a steering device of a tilt telescopic type which adjusts both of a telescopic position and a tilt position of a steering wheel.
According to the steering devices, the inner column is clamped to the outer column relatively unmovably in the axial direction by contracting the outer column having a slit in a diameter thereof and fastening an outer periphery of the inner column by an inner periphery of the outer column after an adjustment of the telescopic position has been finished. A steering angle of a wheel is changed by transmitting rotation of the steering wheel to a steering gear by engaging a lower steering shaft with an upper steering shaft which is mounted with the steering wheel on a rear side of a vehicle body to be able to move telescopically by spline engagement or the like.
There is a case of releasing the inner column from being telescopically clamped to the outer column by erroneously operating an operating lever or the like in transporting the steering device, or in assembling a column cover or the like in a state before attaching a vehicle attaching bracket of the steering device to the vehicle body. When the steering wheel is pulled to the rear side of the vehicle body under the state, there is a case in which the outer column comes out from the inner column along with the vehicle body attaching bracket, and also the spline engagement of the steering shaft is disengaged.
In an electric type power steering device, an input shaft on a side of a steering wheel and an output shaft on a side of a wheel are connected by a torsion bar, a torsion of the torsion bar is detected by a torque sensor, a torque operated to the torsion bar is detected from a result of the detection, and a necessary steering assisting force is exerted to the output shaft by driving an electric motor.
Therefore, it is necessary to make a neutral state of the steering wheel and a neutral state on the side of the wheel coincide with each other accurately, and assembling is carried out by making a phase of a spline of an upper steering shaft to which rotation of the steering wheel is transmitted and a phase of a spline of a lower steering shaft which transmits rotation to the side of the wheel coincide with each other accurately. Therefore, when the spline engagement of the steering shaft is once disengaged, there poses a problem that time is taken in an operation of reassembling by making the phases of the splines of the upper steering shaft and the lower steering shaft coincide with each other accurately.
According to a steering device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-154789, when an outer column is clamped to a vehicle body attaching bracket by operating an operating lever, a press contact cam is brought into press contact with an outer peripheral face of an inner column, an engaging protrusion is engaged with an end portion in view of a rear side of a vehicle body of a detachment preventing hole of the inner column, and the outer column is prevented from coming out from the inner column. However, according to the steering device of Patent Document 1, when the outer column is unclamped from the vehicle body attaching bracket by erroneously operating an operating lever in a state before mounting the vehicle body attaching bracket of the steering device to the vehicle body, the press contact cam is separated from the outer peripheral face of the inner column, the engaging protrusion is detached from the detachment preventing hole of the inner column, and therefore, the outer column cannot be prevented from coming out from the inner column.
According to a steering device of Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-43978, a pin fixed to an inner column is telescopically moved by being guided by a long hole formed at an outer column, the inner column is prevented from coming out from the outer column, and rotation of the inner column relative to the outer column is restricted. However, according to the steering device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-154789, no description has been given of whether the inner column can be prevented from coming out from the outer column when the outer column is unclamped from a vehicle body attaching bracket by erroneously operating an operating lever in a state before attaching the vehicle body attaching bracket of the steering device to a vehicle body.    Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-154789    Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-43978